Tex: Not Now, but Forever
by Nightylilly
Summary: RvB This Is a story I made about Tex's past. Much more to come. So far, Hint of a ChurchxTex. Please R


"No." My dad told me.

"Why not?" I asked, "I'm eighteen. I'm old enough to make my own decisions. I want to join the war, dad." He shot me a dirty look.

"I want to be a great private. Maybe even a Captain… Like you were." I begged him. He turned and left the room. Dad was like that. There was no changing his mind. Not now, not ever. I sunk down on the couch. All I ever wanted was to be as great as him. Now I finally get my chance… And he doesn't let me shine through the dark pit that is my life? I got up and ran into the kitchen.

"What side would you fight on, Tex?" He looked up from where he was standing.

"You know I don't work well on teams." I reminded him.

"So how are you going to be a Captain?" He shot back.

"I…" I thought a moment, "I want to be a Freelancer."

"You… A girl…" He looked away, "Girls are lucky to get in the war… let alone have the starting talent to be a Freelancer."

"I've always wanted to live up to you." I walked over to him. He turned around and put a pan on the stove. We still had an old-fashioned stove. Everyone had those brand new shiny food systems… And we still had a stove. Shows how much money he makes at the factory…

"You're the only thing I have left of your mother." He turned away from me.

"… But I don't want to be a housewife, daddy." I looked at him stubbornly, "I want to fight the war. Somebody has to!" I turned and ran up the stairs. I went into my room and threw my sports bag on the bed. I grabbed a couple outfits and tossed them in. I took my baseball and looked at it. All of my friends signed it. I threw it on the bed. I grabbed a hairbrush, my bag of hair ties, and my toothbrush.

I picked up my picture of us. That was before mom died in the fire. I was four years old. I was laughing and she swung me in her arms. Dad held her waist. We were so happy then.

"If you won't let me join the war," I said, taking my picture and placing it in the bag. "I'll just have to join myself."

I took the bag and stuffed it under my bed. I looked at my clock. It was eight at night. Dad always left to do his night shift at nine. I went downstairs into his study. He was in the kitchen, eating his late supper. I looked at his wall. Half of the awards up there were his while a Captain for the Red team. The other half, were my sports awards. My first place ribbons shone in perfection. I took down my goggles. I was the best swimmer on the team. That's how I got my upper-body strength. I put them back and admired my baseball trophies. Dad never knew how to sign me up for softball, so he stuck me with the guys. I let out a laugh. I was used to being part of the guys. I looked outside.

Our planet amazed me. Global warming was destroying Earth. The scientists decided, that the only way to save the human race was to stick them on an alien planet, and hope for the best. For some, that was easier than others. I, on the other hand, was born on the planet. It was eventually changed to look like earth. We still haven't stopped destroying it though.

A group of scientists called themselves the Blue Team. They trained boys at age Eighteen to fight, and sent them to other planets to see if there were other inhabitants on them. There were not. So the Blue army just sat on the planets and waited.

There was another group of scientists, however, that wanted the planets too. They naturally called themselves the Red Team. They started training boys too. Some idiot decided, that it would be easier to train them all on the same planet on various camps. So now we got about thirty guys in Red armor, and Thirty guys in Blue armor, running around at the same place, learning how to kill each other.

Of course, there are some people, who don't want to be on either side. They work better alone, want to earn more money, etc. They're called Freelancers. They can be hired by either the Blue or Red army to help.

Two years ago, they let girls join. Apparently, we weren't good enough before. Most girls didn't see the point, and just stuck around on good old Earth number two. Yeah… Like that gives you any fun.

Girls get pushed harder than boys. They get put down by all Captains, and almost never even get considered to be Freelancers. Some are lucky though.

I looked up at the clock, and it was quarter to nine. I heard the door open and close. Right on time. I ran up to my room and grabbed the bag. I threw on a hat, and a big sweatshirt. I watched through the window as my dad left. I ran out of the back door and through the back yard. I had already signed up to leave that night. I was hoping dad would let me go, and would have said goodbye, but there's dad for you.

I stumbled through the neighbor's yards and bushes. I hopped the first fence, and heard a growl.

"Shit" I breathed. I dashed across the huge yard, the neighbor's yappy dog on my tail. It was no small dog either. It was one of the huge guard dogs. My hat was going to fall off… I knew it. It wobbled back and forth as I ran. Luckily, I had remembered not to wear jeans so I didn't worry about my pants. I needed my hat though. It was my dad's, and I had to keep it. I didn't know why, but I had to. It slipped off, but I grabbed it just in time. I looked up, and the fence rushed at me. I grabbed the top and threw myself over it. I sighed in relief.

A couple of minutes later, I reached the ship station. It was like an airport, only smaller, and less colorful. I went through the gray hall to the desk.

"Welcome to the ship station, are you leaving for training?" A woman asked me, her eyes never leaving the computer.

"Yes. Tex Briggs?" I told her. She clicked a few times.

"You're a girl?" She looked up at me, "Hurry, Flight B13!" I turned and ran.

"Your flight leaves in three minutes!" She yelled after me. I bolted down the hallway.

"A 1-10… A 10-20…" I counted as I ran. I would never make it! I went as fast as I could.

"A 40-50… B1-10…" I breathed.

"B 10-20!" I yelled, dashing into the small hallway. I saw the sign for Flight B13 and ran in just as the lady was shutting the door. I bolted down the hallway and into the ship's door.

"Into a seat!" A man yelled at me.

"Sorry…" I breathed. I looked around, and I seemed to fit right in. I wore the same the same baggy sweatshirt as them and the same hat. My ponytail was tucked into my hat, so I looked like a guy. I knew they would treat me differently if they knew I was a girl, so I dressed like a guy. I was always a tomboy back at home anyways. I saw these three cool-looking guys horsing around in their seats. The fourth seat in between them was open, so I went to the row.

"Can I sit here?" I asked, throwing my black bag in the seat. I crawled over the first two guys, and put the bag under my seat.

"Welcome aboard!" A guy with bleach blonde hair said to my left, "They call me York."

"I'm Washington." The one to my left with black hair punched my shoulder.

"And I'm Wyoming" A similar looking guy said, but he had unusual white hair.

"Brothers?" I asked, pointing to Washington and Wyoming.

"Yeah, I'm two years older." Washington smiled. The ship started to move and the guys all yelled.

"Why are you here two years _later_?" I asked him.

"I'll tell you when we get to the training camp." He looked forward. I smiled as we left the ground. My face seemed to pull back as we picked up speed and the guys yelled louder, and finally started laughing when we got through the atmosphere. It was a long ride, but by the time we got there, I knew York would be a great friend of mine. He was one of those friends who'd be there for you.

We grabbed our bags, and hopped off the ship to a small valley. There were three circular buildings. One had a red stripe, one a blue, and the other a white.

"Alright!" A man in gold armor yelled, "Blue recruits go to the Blue Base, Red to Red, and Freelancers stay here." Half of the group left for the bases, some more enthusiastic than others.

"Okay, quick drill for you guys," The gold armored man said, "You can call me captain. I'm going to have you all do a quick drill for me. I can only have half as many of you as I should, so I need to put the slower, worse guys to a team." He had us leave our stuff there and brought us to an obstacle course.

"Run this one by one, and I'll score you one to ten. The fifteen people with the highest scores will be our Freelancers. Line up!" All Forty-Five of us lined up for the course.

"Yell your name when the person before you finishes." Captain yelled. I was second in line. Washington, Wyoming, and York were all in the group behind me.

I suddenly realized I had to take my hat and sweatshirt off. They would know I'm a girl! ... But I had to. I took the hat off and let my strawberry blonde ponytail fall down my back. I took off the sweatshirt to a tank top.

"I hope they all make it…" I mumbled as the first man struggled through the course. He had to climb a rope, jump from a wall, crawl under barbed wire, climb up and down a net, and run through tires. It seemed easy enough, but it was taking him forever. When he finally finished, I turned to the Captain.

"Briggs!" I yelled as I grabbed the rope. It stung my palms as I grabbed the frayed parts in my hands I passed it and hopped the wall like I had hopped the fence. I went on my elbows and crawled under the wire while dragging my ankles. My long pant leg caught on some, but I was out in a flash. I stood up from the dirt and grabbed the net. It was hard to find a hole that wasn't ripped, but I made it over and skipped climbing down. I reached the tires, and forced my feet into every one. I stepped out and the next guy yelled his name. I jogged back behind Captain to the other guy, crossing my arms against my chest. Would they know I'm a girl?

"That was the fastest I've ever seen!" Panted the guy who went before me.

"In all, I thought I did pretty good." I said, putting my hat and sweatshirt back on.

"You're… A girl?" He asked.

"Shit," I looked away. I knew somebody had noticed.

"I'm Tex." I smiled at him.

"I'm Church." He smiled back. I told him about my father not wanting me to leave. It turns out that his father didn't want him to leave either. He went on the ship, and he escaped here without his father's permission. He knew he'd never get a real job. He had been passing everything with minimum work.

By the time we finished talking, the other guys had joined in on the conversation. All were putting in how they'd come here. Most had been planning to come their whole lives.

"Listen up!" The Captain interrupted us. We all gathered around him as he began announcing names.

"Washington." He nodded to his old student.

"Wyoming, York, Tex… Oh! The Captain's _daughter._" He paused. The guys had started whispering uncontrollably.

"Yes," The Captain yelled, "We have a girl, and she's a Freelancer." The whispering grew to full conversations.

"Calm down!" He silenced them. He finished announcing the names.

"Who's Tex?" A man asked.

"Tex Briggs." Captain sighed, "Jay Briggs' Daughter." That made the gossiping get worse. None looked to me, unable to put a name to a face.

"Jay Briggs is your dad?" Church asked me.

"Yeah," I admitted

"He's a legend!" He turned to me "…He's fought on fifty seven planets, and saved one squad from the only alien attack ever recorded!"

"Yeah," I sighed, "No need to hear what I already know." I backed away from him and ran to get my stuff. I grabbed my bag and jogged to the White base. There was a long hallway inside with beds lined up on either side. I chose one near the end and opened my bag. I threw a tee shirt into the small side table, along with a pair of shorts. I smiled as I gently placed my picture of the family next to my bed. The sound of footsteps filled the room and I looked up. Searching the small crowd for Church, York threw his stuff on the bed next to mine. The last of the people came in, and Church was yet to be seen. I sighed. Somehow, I knew he wasn't going to make it. I reluctantly removed my sweatshirt and long, baggy pants. I threw on a pair of pajama pants, and removed my hat. I heard a few gasps as I undid the tight ribbon wrapped around my hair, but I ignored it and slipped into my gray bed.

"So you're Tex." York smiled at me.

"Yeah," I pulled the blanket to my shoulders and closed my eyes, "I guess I am."


End file.
